"In association with ‘Fringe Arts Bath Festival’, we bring you the first ‘Bath Photography Festival’. The
aim of the festival is to promote photography as a way of communicating
ideas and thoughts. Bath has a rich photographic heritage; it is the
home of the Royal Photographic Society and the Fox Talbot Museum at
Lacock Abbey is only 15 miles away."

Real / Unreal

Introduction

"We
are bombarded with photographic imagery every day, through news
channels, social media, posters, signs and product labels. These images
can inspire us, make us question and influence us. However, are these
images real or portraying the truth?

Ever since the photography
was invented, images have been doctored. The media lends itself to many
editing processes; this allows the photographer to change what they see
and therefore the viewer’s perception."

Exhibition statement

These photos are of beach sand grains. They really are! They are sand grains seen under a microscope. The super-imposed scale, bottom left of each photo, represents 1mm in real life. How 'unreal' is that! The sands were collected from Western Australian beaches during a 6 month artist residency. They are grains from geological and biological eons; rocks and remnants of sea life, eroded over time by wind and water.

Beach sand lies at the border of land and sea; at the boundary of the physical and the numinous. For me, these photos express something of who I am; that I stand outwardly solid and centred upon the ground, and also have an inner life that swims at one within an infinite ocean of imagination. These photos physicallyand metaphorically speak about both the outer and inner worlds we inhabit. Real and unreal is subjective.

Of technical details, these photos were taken using an optical light microscope and dedicated camera. The microscope dark field was used underneath, and the sand top-lit with LED spotlights. Each photo is composite, made up of many digital images which have been 'stacked' and 'stitched'.

For this work I am indebted to the generous support of the University of Western Australia, Centre for Microscopy, Characterisation and Analysis (CMCA). To 'Coherent Scientific' for the loan to CMCA of a specific microscope for my work. To Fremantle Arts Centre, Western Australia for the artist residency and studio space.

[Refs: Book by Michael Welland, Sand: a journey through science and the imagination. Also website throughthesandglass.typad.com .

Books and website by Gary Greenberg.

Sandatlas.org

Foraminifera.eu ]

Available to buy as fine art photographic prints. Please use 'contact me' to enquire.